Off-roaders fear being shut out by southern Alberta land-use plan

Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald01.06.2014

Responsible off-road enthusiasts say more enforcement of the rules would be more effective than limiting access to Alberta’s wilderness areas, by targeting the minority who harm the environment. “Ultimately, we have the same concerns about wildlife and water,” says Kevin Martoani, a 4x4 enthusiast who lives in Calgary. “We want clean air and clean water or we wouldn’t be out there.”Stuart Gradon

The draft land-use plan for southern Alberta increases protected areas along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies — including the creation of Castle Wildland Provincial Park and the Castle conservation area.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

On many summer weekends, Steve Ward and his buddies pack up their ATVs and head to the area around the Ghost River. Sometimes they go to Waiparous, others times to South Ghost or Fallen Timber public recreation areas.

They bring their families and their trailers, and usually set up camp for the weekend.

“It’s our summer,” says Ward, a 34-year old Calgarian.

Off-road enthusiasts are worried, though, that their summer activities will disappear under the proposed land-use plan for southern Alberta.

“The concern is that you go after the low-hanging fruit of the redneck ATVers,” says Ward, acknowledging there are problems with some off-road vehicle users tearing up areas.

In recent years, the province and police have been cracking down on rowdy behaviour by quadders, dirt bikers and mudboggers in areas such as McLean Creek and Waiparous.

It’s exactly those types of conflicts the regional land-use plans were created to fix.

In southern Alberta, the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan will guide future decisions on development, recreation and conservation for an area that spans from the Rockies to the Saskatchewan border.

The draft plan acknowledges that motorized recreation is a growing activity in Alberta for residents and visitors alike.

“The number of off-highway vehicles . . . in Alberta rose from 37,042 in 1987 to 138,177 in 2010,” it notes.

“Additionally, 316,998 recreational vehicles were registered in Alberta in 2010, a 23 per cent increase from 2005. Providing areas for people to recreate is linked to economic diversification of the region.”

The plan doesn’t tally off-road vehicle use, but cites 2009 statistics that show snowmobilers alone made a significant contribution to the region’s economy, spending more than $110 million to buy the machines and their parts, and another $250 million to operate and maintain the vehicles.

Conservationists, however, suggest the economic benefits come at the expense of watershed health.

“There is very little change in the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan,” says Marina Krainer, executive director of the Ghost River Watershed Alliance. “It’s a little bit disappointing.”

She says the problems, which include erosion and sediment entering rivers and streams, are worsening with the growing numbers of off-road enthusiasts in the province.

“If they are accessing it today, they continue to have access,” she says, noting the province will be working with groups — ranging from off-road vehicle users to environmentalists — to manage public recreation areas.

“We have some pretty critical watershed areas and we want to make sure we are managing for all of those values,” she says. “There are some areas we will need (them) to stay out of.

“It could impact headwaters, it could impact sensitive watershed.”

The draft plan proposes 32 new and expanded recreation and conservation areas, with nine new or expanded provincial parks and three new or expanded recreation areas. It increases protected areas along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies — including the creation of Castle Wildland Provincial Park and the Castle conservation area in southwestern Alberta.

Outdoor recreationalists in the south, however, suggest the environmentalists are just trying to keep people out of the area.

“Everybody is trying to get a little piece of this place,” says Tony Stoklosa, a Coleman resident and the land-use chairman for Lethbridge Fish and Game.

They suggest the conflicts would be fixed with better enforcement rather than limiting the areas where they can play.

“You can make a plan,” adds Blairmore outdoorsman Colton Newton, “but until you have more enforcement, it won’t matter.”

Stoklosa said enforcement is a major issue.

“We need boots on the ground,” he says, suggesting they don’t need a conservation officer behind every tree, “but a few more would help.”

It’s a similar theme heard at hearings on the plan across southern Alberta, particularly by off-road enthusiasts.

“Ultimately, we have the same concerns about wildlife and water,” says Kevin Martoani, a 4x4 enthusiast who lives in Calgary. “We want clean air and clean water or we wouldn’t be out there.

“Otherwise, we’d just stay in the city.”

The province simply needs to create some clear guidelines for the activity, Martoani says. “There’s no rules.”

Yee, who’s spearheading the draft plan for the province, says there could be changes to how the province enforces the activity but notes the management of the areas will come with better trail networks for off-road vehicle use.

“It’s about prevention. Part of prevention is better designed trails,” she says. “Some people are bad actors because we don’t have a trail system, so they create their own. It gets created in areas that are not appropriate.”

Yee says it’s important to develop a better land stewardship ethic — a possibility that also includes a guardian program to monitor the activity.

“That’s definitely a step in the right direction,” says the watershed council’s Krainer. “We need those boots on the ground: people who can give anyone who comes a map or tell them where to go or not to go.”

Some off-road users say stewardship efforts are already starting to take place.

Back in the day, Ward says it was a free-for-all with the mudboggers and big trucks. These days, he says there’s a lot more education among the local trail groups, which have been building bridges and teaching members to stay on marked trails.

“As you get older, you get a little wiser about what you should be doing,” he says.

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